


Welcome to Midtown

by steverogerstrash (theyvegotthisspellonme)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27000100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyvegotthisspellonme/pseuds/steverogerstrash
Summary: post-giant war, Jason and Percy attend Midtown School of Science and Technology
Relationships: Jason Grace/Percy Jackson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no explanation for this but holy shit did it get away from me 
> 
> started as something to work on to sludge through block on other things I've been writing, evolved into an actual story, kind of? maybe more to come, who knows. certainly not me

Peter is about to jump to the top of the next building on his patrol route when he hears the shouting. It’s coming from an alley… there. He swings down to the sidewalk, between a kid - probably his age - and whatever is growling at him from the shadows. Before he can say anything, though, Peter is being shoved out of the way. He can only watch as the kid charges the thing, swinging something through the air. There’s some kind of spark, then all that’s left of whatever it was is yellow dust on the pavement. 

“Are you okay?” The kid asks, turning to Peter. He raises a hand to push dark hair out of his eyes. 

“Uh, I think I should be the one asking you that.” Peter tries to laugh, but it doesn’t come out quite right. The other kid smiles anyway. There’s a pause as they take each other in.

“Is that a  _ sword _ ?” Peter asks, staring at the three-foot bronze blade the kid is holding.

“Sword? Why would I have a sword? That’s wild. Well, uh, I’ve gotta get going. Thanks for the assist.” Peter barely registers the panic in the guy’s voice before he’s gone, fading into the crowd before Peter can stop him. 

He forgets all about the weird encounter for a while - the school year starts, bringing with it all the general pains of high school. Between homework and decathlon and Avenging, Peter keeps pretty busy. Enough so that he doesn’t notice the new kids until MJ points them out. 

“I just hope Flash isn’t getting his claws in them too deep.” She finishes, shooting another glare across the cafeteria. Peter follows her gaze, then freezes.

“Is everything okay, Peter?” Ned asks after a moment. Peter nods. 

“Did I ever tell you guys about the weird shit I saw on patrol this summer?” He asks, turning his attention back to his friends. MJ shakes her head. Peter takes a deep breath, then tells them about the time he ran into the dark-haired boy sitting three tables away. 

// 

Percy groans as he slides his books into his locker. For years, he hadn’t seen the point in trying to find another school to take him - he figured he’d live at camp year-round, training the younger kids, if he lived. He hadn’t even thought about college. But then he’d ended up in New Rome, and things had changed… he sighs. 

“What?” Jason asks, coming up to lean on the locker next to Percy’s. Percy shrugs.

“Feels weird to be trying, all of the sudden.” He admits. Jason laughs. 

“Yeah, well. I’m glad you are.” 

“Me, too.” Percy knocks their shoulders together as they head towards the front door. Their relationship is still pretty new - it’s been months since Jason and Piper stopped pretending to be trying to make it work, but both boys were hesitant to make a move. 

_ Percy flops back onto his bed in cabin three, throwing an arm over his eyes.  _

_ “What should I do?” He groans. The bed next to him dips as Annabeth sits down. _

_ “Ask him out. The way he looks at you…” Percy can hear the laughter in Annabeth’s voice. “You should ask him out.” _

_ “But what about Piper?” _

_ “What about her? Are you waiting for her permission?”  _

_ “Maybe.” Percy grumbles. Then, louder, “no. I guess not.”  _

_ “So ask him out. Before he gets the stupid idea that you don’t want him to stay. He’s been looking at places to finish school in California, you know.” _

_ “What? No, I didn’t know that.” Percy sits up so fast his head spins. “Fuck.”  _

_ “He was heading to the arena with Nico last I saw him.” Annabeth offers.  _

_ “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” Percy tells her, shoving his feet back into his flip flops. Annabeth laughs at him. _

_ “I know.”  _

// 

Peter frowns at the class page he’s pulled up on his phone, then switches apps to tap out a message to Mr. Stark.

_ getting a weird feeling from a new kid at school. anything interesting about a percy jackson?  _

He presses send, then goes back to the class listing.

_ or a jason grace, actually. ty.  _

Peter doesn’t expect a response, so he tucks his phone back into a pocket on his suit before heading to the next block on his patrol route. No reason to let it distract him now. 

But there’s nothing really going on tonight, so Peter is stuck switching between the same three apps on his phone, silently thanking Mr. Stark for making one with such a long-lasting battery, and texting Ned. 

_ From: guy in the chair  _

_ did you find anything else out about the new kids?  _

_ From: biderman _

_ no :/  _

_ and nothing back from mr. stark yet either  _

_ From: guy in the chair  _

_ rip  _

_ keep looking or wait it out? _

_ From: biderman _

_ can’t decide tbh _

Peter slides his phone back into his pocket before making his way home. There’s not much going on tonight, and he has a lot of homework left to do.

Of course, twenty minutes into an essay he’s been putting off for days now, his phone rings. If it wasn’t the Avengers emergency ringtone, he would ignore it.

“Peter, there’s been an explosion downtown. Big one. How fast can you meet us at West End and 70th?” It still hasn’t quite sunk in that Captain America just calls sometimes, but Peter can’t let himself freak out about it now. 

“I’ll get there as fast as I can.”

Peter is relieved, honestly, that it’s a normal explosion. Normal by Avengers standards, at least. No one’s wielding a sword, at the very least. Still, Peter is on edge. He feels like something else is about to happen, and that he won’t like it very much. 

“You okay, kid? You’re all… twitchy.” The worry in Mr. Stark’s voice is clear even through the Iron Man mask. “Is this about that Jackson kid?” 

“Did you find anything?” Peter asks, looking up at him. 

“We’ll talk about it back at the tower.” 

Which wasn’t what Peter was expecting. At all. But if it motivates him to help more with clean up, well. He’s curious, that’s all. 

Tony gestures for Peter to follow him into the Tower, stepping out of the suit as he does. 

“You said Percy Jackson, right? He’s got quite the history,” Tony continues at Peter’s nod. “Kicked out of more schools than I care to count. Also, he was the focus of a nationwide manhunt a few years ago. They thought he tried to kill his mom and blow up the Saint Louis Arch. Turned out he didn’t, but…” Tony shrugs. Peter stares at him. “Then he went missing  _ again _ , at the beginning of last year. He was spotted a couple of times in Europe over the summer, but I guess he’s back now.”

“What.” 

“Hey, you wanted to know. And that other kid, Jason Grace? He’s been missing for, like, fifteen years. His mother was Beryl Grace. She was a big name, once. Died a while back, though.” 

“Um. Well. I think I have some homework still, so-” Peter makes his excuses over Tony’s laughter, then makes his way home. It’s pretty late, so it isn’t surprising that May is already asleep.

Peter really does have homework but he falls into bed anyway, fully intending to text Ned about what Mr. Stark told him. He’s asleep the second his head hits the pillow. 

“Dude, are you okay?” Ned asks as Peter puts his stuff in his locker the next morning. “You went totally dark on me last night.”

“Yeah, there was an… internship thing, then Mr. Stark told me some stuff. I was asleep maybe ten minutes after I got home.” Peter knows that Ned will understand that he was out Avenging. 

“Stuff about our new friends?” 

“Yeah. They’ve both been reported missing before, for one. And Percy was  _ wanted  _ for a while. Remember when the Saint Louis Arch blew up? People thought that was him.” 

“What the hell is he doing  _ here _ ?” 

“Good question.” 

They head to their first period study hall - sometimes, it pays to be on academic decathlon - still talking about Percy and Jason. When they get there, though, the two new kids are the only ones in the room. Percy is sitting on Jason’s desk, gesturing wildly as he talks about something. Jason doesn’t look like he’s all the way awake, but he’s nodding along to whatever Percy’s saying. His eyes flick around the room like he’s waiting for something to go wrong. It’s not long before he notices Peter and Ned.

“Babe.” He interrupts, voice sharp as he puts a hand on Percy’s knee. Percy stops talking immediately, pulling a pen out of his pocket as he turns towards the door. He shakes his head when he sees Peter and Ned, slipping the pen back into his pocket, muttering something about old habits. 

“Uh, hey.” Peter starts, with a burst of confidence he’s never had before. “I’m Peter Parker, this is my best friend Ned Leeds. You guys are new here, right?” He moves into the room as he speaks, taking a seat at a desk a few down from where Percy and Jason are sitting. 

“Yeah. I’m Percy, this is Jason. We’re juniors.”

“Oh, hey. Us too.” Ned grins at them. “How’d you guys get out of gym?” 

“Percy’s on the swim team.” Jason’s grin says that something about that is funny, but neither Peter nor Ned would get it. “I joined the soccer team.” 

“We’re on academic decathlon. We spend enough time here after school that they decided to let us have this one.” 

The conversation continues as the rest of the study hall trickles in, only stopping when the teacher calls the class to order. Percy slides off of Jason’s desk and into the one next to him. Peter watches them out of the corner of his eye as he does his own work, but nothing seems that weird about them. He frowns down at his paper, running over their conversation in his head. But nothing about that is weird either. Except… the way that Percy and Jason had reacted when they realized they weren’t alone. The way they both tensed up. Like they were suspicious. Or in danger. 

The rest of the day passes without incident. Even Peter’s patrol is boring that night. He finds himself looking forward to study hall, hoping that he can gather more information about Midtown’s two new students. 

Neither of them are there. Peter slips out of the classroom when it’s clear they aren’t coming - they have to be somewhere in the building. His hunch is proven right when he turns down a random hallway and hears them talking to each other over the sound of - Peter is sure that can’t be the sound of swords clashing. 

It is, though. Percy and Jason are sword fighting in a room Peter thinks might usually be used by the wrestling team. 

They’re both really good. Not that Peter knows enough about sword fighting to really judge, but. Neither of them seem to be able to land a solid blow, despite their wildly different fighting styles. Percy is all over the place, ducking and weaving around the room. Jason’s style is less distracted, like it’s more suited to fighting in a group. Peter watches for a moment as they try to land a hit on the other, then knocks on the window. 

Percy and Jason both turn towards the noise, backs together, neither lowering their weapon. Peter waves awkwardly. Percy nods for him to come in. 

“Hey, Peter. What’s up?” 

“Oh, uh. Nothing, I guess. You know, gladiator fighting hasn’t been popular in years.” He’s aiming for a joke, but something crosses both Percy’s and Jason’s face. It’s gone before Peter can figure it out. Jason laughs.

“You’d be surprised, honestly.” 

“Did you need us for something?” Percy asks, leaning on his sword. 

“Oh. Uh, I was wondering if you guys wanted to sit with me and Ned and our friend MJ at lunch. Flash is… not a nice guy.” 

“Definitely got that vibe.” Jason agrees. He looks like he’s going to say more, but the bell rings. 

“Shit, gotta go.” He picks his bag up off the floor, then, ignoring Peter, plants a quick kiss on Percy’s lips before leaving. 

“Bye, Jace.” Percy calls, shouldering his own bag. He must have put the swords away while Peter was talking to Jason, because both blades are gone. “We have english together, right?” He asks Peter. 

“Yeah. Hey, where did you guys learn to fight like that?” 

“Summer camp.” Percy shrugs. He won’t look at Peter, though.

“Cool.” 

It isn’t until later that Peter realizes the sword Percy had been using was the same as the one Peter had seen him use over the summer. Which meant that Percy and Jason had been using real swords. Peter isn’t sure what’s more surprising - that neither of them got hurt, or that they got the weapons into the building in the first place. 

MJ doesn’t even raise an eyebrow when Percy and Jason slide into seats at their usual table. 

“Got tired of Flash?” She asks, not looking up from her book. 

“We were tired of Flash on day one.” Jason admits. MJ just nods. 

“So how did you guys meet?” Ned asks. Percy and Jason exchange a look before Percy nods, gesturing with his fork for Jason to explain. 

“There was, uh, an exchange program between our camps. We were chosen to… switch places last year. We ended up on a trip with some other kids from both camps. It was…” he pauses, searching for the right words.

“It was a lot.” Percy supplies. 

“Yeah. It was really a lot.” Jason agrees. He takes Percy’s free hand where it’s resting on the table. 

“What about you guys?” Percy asks. 

“School. Not as interesting as your exchange program.” Ned shrugs. The conversation continues in the same vein for a while, but it’s clear to Peter that there’s stuff that Percy and Jason aren’t telling them. They answer questions, sure. But the answers are vague, and sometimes they don’t make any sense. It gets really weird when Peter brings up the Europe trip. 

“Oh, I’m never going back to Europe.” Percy says around a mouthful of food. 

“Back?” MJ asks, finally looking up. Percy shakes his head. 

“We had a really shitty time there last summer.” 

“Trip from hell.” Jason agrees. Percy snorts a humorless laugh, his fingers tightening around Jason’s. Ned looks like he wants to ask more questions, but he’s interrupted by the bell. Peter frowns at the pair as they leave, Jason whispering something to Percy. 

“What the hell was that?” Peter mutters. Ned shrugs. 

“Some people are just weird, man.” 

Peter knows he shouldn’t follow them after school. That doesn’t stop him. It’s Friday, and they’d mentioned having to go back to camp this weekend, something about helping to clean up after a freak storm. 

It’s a weird trip. Peter tracks Percy’s Prius through the city, then out to Long Island. It takes like two hours, but eventually the car pulls off to park at Delphi Strawberry Farm. 

“What the fuck.” Peter mutters, watching as Percy and Jason get out of the car and head to the house on the hill, where a bearded man in a wheelchair is waiting. But, weird as it is, Percy and Jason both look more relaxed than Peter has ever seen them. They walk up the hill hand in hand, shoulders bumping together. They wave to the bearded man, then walk around the house, past a tree with a weird pile of cables - no, not cables. The shimmering gold at the base of the tree shifts as they approach, raising its head as if to greet them. 

“Holy fuck. That’s a dragon.” Peter mutters. As he stares, Peter and Jason disappear over the top of the hill, into the valley below. 

Peter doesn’t linger on Long Island - Percy and Jason had made it sound like an all-weekend thing, and there’s nothing to really  _ watch.  _ The bearded man had gone inside not long after Percy and Jason had arrived, and no one has come out of the house since then. Besides, Mr. Stark wants him to come to the tower for something. 

Weeks go by before anything interesting happens. Percy and Jason don’t get up to anything as far as Peter can tell, and it seems like supervillains and mad scientists are taking a break. It’s so quiet that Peter even scales back his patrols a little, taking time to just act like a normal teenager.

So, of course, it goes to hell very quickly. 

Peter is patrolling Manhattan for once - he’s ahead on his homework and looking for something to do - when he hears the fighting. And the explosion. He’s not sure why he doesn’t call anyone, just makes his way over, perching on a roof above the scene. The fire hydrant on the sidewalk is busted, water flowing freely into the alley - that must have been the explosion. 

Percy and Jason are standing back-to-back at the end of an alley, surrounded by… well, Peter isn’t quite sure. But they’re cornered and bleeding, and Percy has a stain on his jeans that looks  _ bad.  _ Still, though, Peter hesitates. He doesn’t want to get in the way of whatever his classmates are doing with huge swords. They’re the same ones he’d seen them training with that one time. 

As he watches, though, the fight seems to turn. Percy and Jason look like they’re hovering over the water, somehow, then there’s a lightning strike. There’s a scream, then a cloud of yellow dust. Both boys relax. Peter takes a deep breath, then makes his entrance. 

“Everything okay here?” He asks, landing in front of Percy and Jason. 

“Uh, yeah.” Jason says. He’s clearly distracted - Percy is leaning heavily on the blond’s shoulder, trying to keep his weight off his injured leg. “Hang on a sec, Perce. I have some ambrosia.” He mutters. 

“I’ll be okay.” Percy mutters. 

“I can call an ambulance.”” Peter offers. Both of the other boys stiffen.

“No, no. That’s not necessary.” 

“Really, I’ll be okay.” Percy repeats. Peter raises an eyebrow even though they can’t see his face.

“Peter. He’ll be okay.” Jason says, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder.

“Peter? Who’s, uh. Who’s Peter?” He doesn’t do well under pressure like this. Luckily, Jason is ignoring him in favor of fishing a plastic bag out of his backpack. 

“Here. Eat this.” He hands Percy a piece of something - a marshmallow? - then turns his attention back to Peter. 

“We won’t tell anyone, you know.” And Peter isn’t sure why he trusts these two so much, but he does. He pulls the mask off. 

“How’d you know?” 

“We’ve known that there was something different about you for a while.” Percy admits. He’s standing up straighter, now, as the color comes back to his face. Peter might be staring. There’s no way he should look that good, not after the amount of blood he lost. “Weren’t sure what, though.”

“We really hadn’t planned to say anything - we have secrets, too. I’m sure you noticed.”

“Uh, yeah.” Peter laughs awkwardly. “Is there another place we can have this conversation, or another time? Secret identities and all that.”

“We can go to my place.” Percy volunteers. “My mom wants to meet you anyway.” 

Peter puts the mask back on and swings off after Percy rattles off an address three streets away. He’s waiting on the fire escape when Percy comes into the bedroom to open the window. 

“Do you want sweats or something?” He asks, already rifling through a drawer. 

“Oh, uh. No thanks. I’ll probably go back out on patrol later.” Percy nods, already working the bloodstained jeans off his legs. 

“Mom made cookies if you want some.” He gestures to the door. Peter makes his escape, grateful. 

Sure enough, there’s a warm plate of cookies sitting on the coffee table when Peter comes into the living room. Jason is standing there, holding a baby and talking to a dark-haired woman. 

“Peter, hey.” Jason grins when he notices him. “This is Sally and Estelle. Stella, can you say hi?” He murmurs, waving the baby’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Peter Parker.”

“From Midtown, right?” Sally asks, settling into a chair. Peter nods. “Percy’s told me about you. I’m glad he has some friends that are more… removed from the situations he gets into.” She shoots Jason a look, but it seems more teasing than anything. 

“Hey,” Percy protests. “Don’t blame Jason. It’s not his fault.”

“No, I know.” Sally laughs. “I’ll leave you three to talk.” She takes Estelle from Jason then heads back towards the bedrooms.

Percy lands heavily on the couch. It’s clear that his leg is still bothering him, but if he’s ignoring it, then Peter will too. 

“Did you really learn how to fight at summer camp?” Peter blurts. The tension in the room breaks as Percy and Jason laugh.

“Yeah, actually.” Jason admits. He’s sitting next to Percy now, running a hand through the other boy’s hair where his head is resting on Jason’s shoulder. 

“We went to very… specialized camps. For demigods.” 

“Demigods?” 

“Children of the old gods. Greek, Roman.” Jason explains.

“Egyptian and Norse, too, actually.” Percy adds. 

“You’re explaining that later.” Jason murmurs.

“And you’re… demigods.” It’s half a question. Peter isn’t entirely sure he’s following the conversation anymore, but something about what they’re saying rings true. 

“Yep. I’m a son of Jupiter, and Percy is the son of Poseidon.”

“Okay.” Peter nods, taking the information in. “Wait, is it cheating that you’re on the swim team?” 

Percy laughs, shaking his head.

“I don’t use my powers for evil, I promise. I make sure to breathe air while I’m in the pool.” 

“Breathe air?” 

“He can breathe underwater.” Jason supplies. Peter gapes at him.

“Oh it gets better.” Percy is laughing again, probably at the look on Peter’s face. “Jason can fly. Our friend Leo can set himself on fire. Our friend Nico can summon skeletons at will.”

“Frank.” Jason volunteers. 

“ _ Frank _ . Oh, man. I can’t wait for you to meet Frank.” Percy looks too happy at the prospect.

“And all of these other people are demigods too?” 

“Yeah. There are more of us than you might think.” 

“What do you do?” Peter asks. Jason sighs. 

“Nothing safe.”

“Feel that.” Peter mutters. Jason quirks half a smile at him. 

“In the last few years we’ve fought a couple wars.” Percy’s voice is quiet. 

“Wars?” 

Jason nods, but it doesn’t seem like either of them want to go into it. Percy closes his eyes, looking for all the world like he’s asleep, but his shoulders are tense. 

“We want you to like us for a little while longer.” He jokes. Peter frowns but doesn’t push it. 

“How long have you been Spiderman?” Jason asks. Peter doesn’t comment on the obvious subject change. 

“A few years.” He shrugs. “I thought that was pretty common knowledge.” 

“Demigods and technology don’t really mix. And we’ve been… preoccupied.” 

“Right.” Peter wants to ask more, but it looks like Percy really has fallen asleep now, and Jason doesn’t look that far behind him.

“We can talk about it more another time. And… I won’t say anything to Ned or MJ, obviously. But you two get some rest. I’ll see myself out.” 

Jason just nods, appreciative. 

“Hey,” he calls, just before Peter opens the front door. “Take some cookies.” 

Peter does. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was not sober when i decided to write this or when i decided to post this. also, mj was supposed to be there too but i kept losing track of characters. sorry mj 
> 
> i have no excuses this is just self indulgent

It was shaping up to be a normal Tuesday until halfway through lunch, when Percy started cackling. 

“You good, dude?” Ned asks. Percy nods as he slides his phone down the table to Jason. 

“Oh,  _ fuck yeah _ .” The grin that stretches across Jason’s mouth is dangerous, almost scary. 

“So it’s good news, then?” Peter asks. MJ continues to ignore them. 

“Oh, absolutely. Jace’s sister is coming to town, so some of our other friends are making the trip in, too.” Percy starts. 

“Which means capture the flag.” Jason adds. And yeah, that explains the grin. 

“In the middle of January?” MJ asks, eyebrow raised. 

“We’re a… resilient bunch.” Jason offers. MJ rolls her eyes but doesn’t push it. When she turns her attention back to her book, Jason winks at Peter. Peter rolls his eyes. They’d explained the magical barriers around Camp Half-Blood to him once, briefly. 

_ “Magic in, mortals out. Weather counts, apparently.” Jason shrugs, like it’s really that easy. Maybe it is.  _

_ “Oh, man, there was this one time, though.” Percy starts, leaning towards Peter. Jason pouts a little - the movement takes Percy away from where he’d been tucked under Jason’s arm. “It’s my second summer at camp, right? I’ve been having dreams about my best friend in a wedding dress, there’s a dead guy that’s been tortured for centuries in charge of activities. Hey, that was the summer I met your sister, actually.” He adds, turning to Jason. “She popped out of a tree.”  _

_ “She mentioned that, once, actually.” Jason laughs.  _

_ “A tree?” Peter asks, though he’s not sure he wants to know. “Actually, you know what? I’m going to pretend that everything you just said makes sense.”  _

_ “A story for another time. So there I am, sitting on the beach with a coke. And this guy jogs up. My first thought is ‘holy shit this guy’s lost’. But then he starts talking… turns out, Hermes decided to pay me a personal visit in the middle of the night. To give me multivitamins and encourage me to run away to save his evil son.”  _

_ “And that wasn’t weird?”  _

_ “No, it was. Definitely weird. But not the weirdest thing that happened that summer. Or even that week, actually.”  _

“Anyway, we were gonna have a get together at my mom’s place. You guys should swing by.” Percy says, gesturing to the others with half a sandwich. Peter bites back a snort.

“Sounds great, dude. What’s the address?” 

Percy rattles off his address for Ned and MJ, then goes back to shoving his sandwich in his mouth. Jason rolls his eyes, but he looks fond. Peter sighs. Harley is gone for the week, off on some official business thing with Mr. Stark. 

“So we’ll see you all tomorrow, right?” Percy asks as they leave school on Friday. 

“At seven.” Peter confirms. Percy grins. 

“Can’t wait for you to meet Frank.” He and Jason laugh. They’d mentioned Frank once, when they’d told Peter about demigods, but only in passing. Peter had no idea what he could do. 

Peter comes off patrol early on Saturday so he can shower and make sure his work is done before making his way to Manhattan. Ned meets him outside when it’s time, and they head up to Percy’s apartment together. 

There are… a lot of people stuffed into the living room of Sally Jackson’s tiny apartment. Even Peter is having trouble keeping track of them. 

They’re all kind of beat up, to certain degrees. Like they’ve gotten into some kind of fight. Percy has dirt smeared across his cheek, and one of the girls looks like her hair used to be in a neat braid but now most of her hair is falling around her face.

“Parker! Leeds! Come in, guys.” Percy’s grin is just this side of manic. Peter isn’t sure he’s ever seen the guy look so happy. 

“Hey, man. MJ said she’s super sorry, but some family stuff came up. She probably won’t make it today.” 

“That’s too bad, she’s always good to have around. And I think she and Reyna would get along.” He turns to face the room, “Jace, Peter and Ned are here.” 

It takes a minute, but Jason extracts himself from the mass of people. 

“Good to see you guys. This is the crew - Thalia, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Annabeth, Piper.” He points to each person in turn. 

“Thalia is Jason’s sister.” Percy adds. Peter tries to catch Percy’s eye, to ask if that’s the tree sister, but Percy isn’t looking at him. 

“This is the spider kid?” The blonde - Annabeth - asks, lifting an eyebrow. “The one that caught you idiots?” 

“We were a little distracted.” 

“By an  _ empousa _ ? Right. There’s no way.”

“There were a couple of them.” 

“What’s an  _ empousa _ ?” Ned whispers. Peter shrugs. It’s nothing he’s heard of. 

“Ned, right?” Thalia asks. “What do you know about the Greek gods?” 

“Oh, we’re doing this, huh?” Piper sighs. She leans back into the couch. 

“Peter knows already.” Jason shrugs. “Were probably gonna tell Ned at some point.”

The explanation is brief, and Ned just shrugs, takes it all in stride. He’s good like that. 

“You’re all children of the gods, though? Like, directly?” 

“Genetics on the godly side are… weird.” Jason starts. 

“Dude, Frank and I are technically  _ related _ .” Percy interrupts, slinging an arm around Ned’s shoulders. “My dad is his great times whatever-the-fuck grandfather.”

“But you and Jason aren’t related even though your dads are brothers?” 

“Right. But if you have the same godly parent as someone, you’re siblings.” 

“Like Thalia and Jason.” Ned seems pretty confident, and Peter is inclined to agree with him, but Thalia shakes her head.

“We’re a special case,” She explains. “We’re both children of Zues, but he… visited our mom twice. First in his Greek aspect, then his Roman.” 

“Those are different?” Peter asks. Jason nods. 

“For a lot of reasons. Remember that exchange program Perce mentioned? Between camps?” Peter and Ned nod. Percy continues.

“Hera kidnapped me and Jason, wiped our memories, and sent us to kind of… take each other's places.” 

“Quite literally.” Reyna laughs. “Percy was raised as praetor on the battlefield.”

“Does that mean you’re in charge? Are the two of you in charge of that camp?” 

“Gods, no.” Jason laughs. “Not anymore. Reyna was, for a while. But it’s Frank and Hazel, now.” 

“It’s best to just act like you understand.” Peter whispers. “None of it actually makes sense.” 

“I don’t get it.” Ned admits. “But I don’t think explaining it further will help.” 

“Fair enough.” Annabeth shrugs. 

“Now, Frank,” Percy starts. 

“Do you want to stay friends with these mortals?” Frank asks dryly. Percy just laughs. 

“Dude, we promised Peter. When we told him about demigods.” 

“I thought you said something about breathing underwater, too, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that.” Peter adds. The group laughs. The more they all talk, the more settled Peter feels. These are kids his age - or near it - that get it. They go off sometimes with no idea if they’ll live long enough to come back. It’s… soothing, somehow. Peter understands, a little, why they’re all so close. 

“I’ll stick my head in a bowl if you want.” Percy offers. “But, come on, Frank.”

“You know he’ll keep bringing it up.” Hazel murmurs. Frank sighs. He concentrates for a moment, then disappears. A bulldog has taken his spot on the couch. 

Peter blinks, then slowly sits on the floor. 

“Well,” Ned starts. He opens and closes his mouth a few times but doesn’t say anything else. Frank reappears with a pop. He shrugs.

“It’s a trade off. My life depends on a half-burned stick.” It sounds like a joke, but no one laughs.

“Okay, but for real. What’s an  _ empousa _ ?” Ned asks, breaking the silence. 

“A female demon. They’re incredibly beautiful, but they’re, you know, women. Which is why I have a hard time believing that these two fell for it.” Annabeth laughs. 

“It’s the legs.” Percy sighs, clearly playing along. “Something about the combination of donkey and automaton really gets me, you know?” 

“It’s the fangs for me. And the flaming hair.” Jason agrees. 

“I’m with Grace on this one - it’s the hair.” A new voice calls. Peter turns. Before he can ask who these people are, though, Hazel is halfway across the room. 

“Nico! Will! We were afraid you guys weren’t gonna make it.” She wraps the shorter of the two in a hug. 

“So we’re ignoring the demon thing?” Ned asks, settling next to Peter on the floor. 

“It’s probably for the best.” 

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [tumblr](http://ceilingventclintbarton.tumblr.com) I guess lmao


End file.
